


Flight is just a Fall that Never Reaches the Ground

by redmaples



Series: The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned [1]
Category: DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, But thats later, Emotional Manipulation, Flying, Gen, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Mutilation, Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Suicidal Thoughts, TommyInnit Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Violence, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, Winged TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), nobetawedielikejschlatt, tommyinnit is trying, wilbur soot does his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28845843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redmaples/pseuds/redmaples
Summary: Alternate Title: four times Tommy flew and the one time he hit the groundA prequel to Wednesday, January 20th, which you don't necisarily have to read first, but yeah.Tommy had grown up watching his father fly, large strong wings that could push the air down around him and launch him into the sky, and Tommy, at the tender age of 5, was determined to be just like him.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Dream SMP Ensemble & TommyInnit, Tubbo & Tommyinnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: The Ceremony of Innocence is Drowned [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115069
Comments: 34
Kudos: 499





	1. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well I guess I am adding to this series because I had an idea

Tommy had grown up watching his father fly, large strong wings that could push the air down around him and launch him into the air, and Tommy, at the tender age of 5, was determined to be just like him. His own wings were small dark gray things, not quite big enough yet and still growing, much like the child they were attached to, but Tommy didn’t quite understand that, and he didn’t quite understand why his father and brother alike told him he wasn’t ready to fly.

When Wilbur told the small, determined child, who had run up to him with a bright grin that was made even cuter by the fact that he was missing his two front teeth, said child waved him off as not understanding. Wilbur didn’t have wings and wasn’t a hybrid like his sibling, a trait that was instead dormant in him, so Tommy pretended to listen to him when he said, “Tommy, under no circumstances are you allowed to throw yourself off the roof like the birds do.” Wilbur may have been in the double digits, but Tommy knew he didn’t know everything, and chalked knowing when to fly as one of the things he didn’t know.

When Phil told Tommy that there was no way he was going to let him jump off the roof, the small kid was heartbroken, and tears were welling in his eyes as soon as the words were out of his father’s mouth. “Why not? If I don’t learn right now I may never fly! I wanna fly like you!” he shouted, his temper flaring as it would so many times in the future. Phil had reached out to comfort him, but once Tommy had become upset it was often very hard to calm him down, and he didn’t like being hugged when it wasn’t on his terms, so the small, now very angry child, pushed Phil’s hands away and stormed up to his room, already forming a plan to get around the variety of nos he had heard.

“Toms?” Techno’s voice called from outside his room, a small knock on his door signalling the other boy's presence, “Phil said you're throwing a fit or some sh- thing,” the older boy said, trying not to swear in front of his already verbal brother. It was with that sentence that Tommy threw his door open and glared up at his already very tall 10-year-old brother.

“I am not having a fit, you stupid jerk,” he spat, his blue eyes still red from the angry tears that had escaped them during his departure from the kitchen. “If you only came up here to say the same stuff as Wilbur and Dad then you can just leave.” Tommy crossed his arms, sticking his tongue out through the small gap in his teeth much to Techno’s disgust.

“Calm down, Toms. Phil didn’t tell me why you were being so moody anyways,” he said, pushing past the shorter boy and going to sit on his bed, Tommy punching him lightly as he walked by, so he could say the older boy’s intrusion was unwelcomed.

Techno stared at him from the bed, waiting for the boy to elaborate, which he eventually did with all the annoyance a 5-year-old could muster, “I want to fly,” he said, his wings puffing out slightly to help prove his point, “I think I’m big enough, and when I suggested to Dad and Wilbur that they let me jump off the roof like the birds do they both said no,” he explained, frowning as he tried to comprehend why they would be so against his learning to fly, not really considering the fact that he was asking for them to let him jump off the roof of their house and potentially break his neck. Techno’s sudden burst of shocking laughter drew up Tommy’s attention and his anger, “Why the heck are you laughing?”

“Tommy, your wings aren’t big enough yet, not to mention you asking Phil to let you throw yourself off a building, of course, he’s going to say no,” he laughed, his pink hair falling slightly in his face as he laughed at his younger brother, who was glaring up at him with a hatred far beyond his years, a look the hybrid would grow used to and miss when it turned pathetic and scared. “Just wait a little bit longer,” Techno said after a moment, standing a ruffling his hair, ignoring Tommy’s attempt to slap at his hand.

Then Tommy was alone and left still trying to figure out why his family was so against him throwing himself off the roof. “Maybe the roof is too high?” he wondered out loud, his eyes going to rest on the window of his bedroom. His bedroom was lower than the roof, but still high enough to get him air time. They couldn’t get bad at him for jumping out his window because it wasn’t the roof, they had said no to the roof, but no one had said anything about the window.

Phil found him sitting stubbornly in the grass with a broken arm and a multitude of bruises, a few tears slipping out of his eyes from the pain, but other than a few sniffles he was silent as his Dad fixed him up and talked at him, until the very end, “I’m going to try again, Dad, so you should probably teach me how to do it properly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these will all be fairly short chapters, but i hope you enjoy


	2. 2

The next time Tommy was debating jumping off something tall was when he was 10, he had long since learned how to fly, but after a long hike up the top of a mountain with Wilbur, while Techno and Phil where off on one of their “bonding” trips, he stared off the cliff with a sudden urge to jump. Wilbur sat a few feet back, chewing on a sandwich as he watched his brother. 

“Tommy, please come back and eat your lunch. I feel like your stupid enough to slip and fall off the edge,” Wilbur called blandly from his perch, the 15 year old eye’s narrowing when he caught the look in Tommy’s eyes. 

“Oh yeah, you gonna make me,” Tommy dared, sticking his tongue out at the other boy who sighed, his hand running down his face. 

“You are insufferable,” Wilbur sighed, dragging himself to his feet as Tommy furrowed his eyebrows at him, repeating the word ‘insufferable’ under his breath.

“What does that mean?” Tommy questioned, watching as his brother stood and scoffed at his question.

“You. It’s what you are,” Wilbur answered, a small smirk on his face. 

“Awesome,” Tommy supplied, crossing his arms in smug satisfaction, despite the fact that both of the boys were still growing Tommy was quickly catching up to him height wise, a feat that bothered both Wilbur and Techno immensely and was a major source of pride for their little brother. 

“Annoying,” Wilbur amended, raising an eyebrow at where his brother stood on the edge of the sudden drop, “Are you really going to make me drag you all the way over here, or are you going to act just slightly more mature and come over here on your own,” he said, his voice dripping the amount of annoyance and malic only an older brother could have. 

“You’re not the boss of me,” Tommy sassed back, already trying to decide how safe it would be for him to jump off the ledge, trying to figure out if he would be able to pull his wings out fast enough to catch himself on the way down. The almost teenager had yet to master his iconic move of diving down from vast heights, so the idea of jumping off a cliff without his wings already ready was a bit nerve racking.

“When Phil’s not around, I am, and let's be real he is never around. He’s always too busy with Technoblade,” Wilbur frowned, and Tommy could hear the actual anger in there for their father. Tommy didn’t like to think about the fact that Phil had practically abandoned Wilbur and him, in favour of focusing on Techno, and he hadn’t heard Wilbur mention it in some time. “So, get your ass over here.” 

“No,” Tommy responded back stubbornly. He knew he was egging Wilbur on, he knew his brother was about to blow up, but Tommy was still a child, and enjoyed getting a rise out of his brother, he just, maybe, wasn’t expecting the reaction he got. 

“Holy shit, Tommy, you are so annoying, it’s no wonder Phil’s never around to train with you,” he groaned, the teen realizing what he had said as soon as the words where out of his mouth, “Oh, shit, I didn’t-” 

“Fuck you, Wilbur,” Tommy spat, flipping his brother off with both hands before falling backwards over the side of the cliff. 

“Tommy!” Wilbur shouted, immediately running forward to see his brother’s wings unfurl and launch him into the air a mere few feet away from the ground and certain death. Anger filled Wilbur as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat, but the airy laugh of his brother flying through the air stopped him from shouting, Tommy looked happy, so the older boy decided that he would only mildly scorn the younger boy when he landed. Tommy was all he had after all, and Wilbur all Tommy had. A statement that would become even more true in the future as wars would rage on and the two of them would be together through it all (or, well, they should have been, but things change).

"You gave me a heart attack," Wilbur sighed, once Tommy had decided to come back down, "Please don't do that again," Wilbur said, although he was trying to sound angry Tommy could hear the relief in his voice and wrapped his arms and wings around his older brother. 

"Sorry, Wilbur," he muttered, his wings also wrapping around the teen, "I just wanted to piss you off, man," he grinned, pulling away quickly and skipping off to the backpack of food they had brought up, content to pretend that the whole affair never happened. 

Wilbur was one of the only people Tommy would hug freely (a title that would soon be shared by a certain young boy named Tubbo) and it seemed as if it was mutual, however, if anyone ever brought up the random displays of affection both children would adamantly refuse such an accusation.


	3. 3

Tommy had never really been ashamed of his wings, not really, but Dream wasn’t really a fan of them, so the teen usually did what it took to keep them hidden, the green man already had enough to hate about him he didn’t need to be adding his wings to the mix. Tubbo on the other hand had been fascinated by them when Tommy had first shown the older teen his wings, and often sought to take Tommy far away from everything so he could stretch them.

“You’re so clingy, Tubbo,” Tommy sighed, as he was dragged away from L’Manberg and any prying eyes. Tubbo rolled his eyes, a small laugh falling from his lips as he matched Tommy through the forest and towards a somewhat far away plains biome. “Wilbur’s going to be annoyed if we’re gone for too long, something about how we’re losing power or some shit,” Tommy reminded, not really caring about his brother’s politics, he had already sacrificed for the nation and thought they just needed to chill out for a bit. 

“He won’t even notice we’re gone, Tommy,” Tubbo said, and Tommy groaned loudly, probably more dramatically than what was necessary, but Tubbo just raised an eyebrow at him. Tommy got more irritable when he wasn’t able to fly, or stretch his wings, keeping them hidden for long periods of time usually meant he was more likely to blow up on people, a fact Tubbo was well aware of. “We’re almost there,” he said, hoping that would calm his friend down. It didn’t, but oh well. 

The sun was shining brightly as they walked out to the vast clearing, flowers littering the ground, birds and bees alike flying all over the place, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Tommy and Tubbo had both talked about escaping to this place if L’Manberg fell, but Tommy had insured it’s success and therefore missed his chance for peace. The energetic teen bounced on his heels slightly as they stared at the emptiness in front of them, the excitement of finally being able to fly after so long making him feel as though he was about to burst. The light that entered Tommy’s eyes when he flew was unbelievable, it was a light that sparked in chaos and war, things he had grown to love. 

“Bees!” Tubbo exclaimed, the shorter boy taking off into the grass towards the flowers and subsequently towards the bees, a laugh escaped Tommy’s lips as he let his wings unfurl behind them, cracking his back and stretching them out resembling a cat of sorts. Excitement thrummed through his body as he took off into the field, his wings flapping behind him and easily lifting him off the ground and into the air, enjoying the weightless feeling flight brought him. 

He had missed it, he realized as he flew up, shooting himself as high as he could as quickly as he could, allowing himself a moment to look over the horizon at the trees in the distance, the mountains, the ocean, the world they had found themselves in, then he tuck his wings and fell. Tommy pointed himself towards the ground, like a professional diver, allowing himself to feel the sudden drop and the increase of his heartbeat as the ground rushed towards him. Tubbo used to get so worried when he would do this, so afraid that Tommy wouldn’t catch himself in time, but he always did (or he used to) and there was never any reason to worry. Then at the last second, he shot his wings open and pulled up, gliding over the ground like he had seen Eagles and other birds of prey do so often when hunting. Before he and Wilbur had left for the Dream SMP he had been practicing shooting from the air, maneuvering the bow and arrow had been difficult, but he had eventually figured it out. 

“Hey, Tubbo!” Tommy shouted after a moment, landing next to his friend and scaring the oversized bees away from the boy who frowned at him. 

“I hate you,” Tubbo said, his voice devoid of emotions as he stared down his friend, before grinning. 

“You wanna try flying?” Tommy asked, excitement leaking into his voice, as he stared at his friends, “I think I’d be able to hold you.” Tubbo looked a little unsure, and well, it made sense, Tommy wasn’t exactly a big guy, and while he had been training most of his life he was somewhat of a string bean. 

“I’m not sure that’s the best-” Tubbo said, sounding uncertain. 

“Come on, big man, I won’t drop you.” Tommy grinned, reaching out to grab Tubbo’s arm, fully prepared to throw his friend into the air with or without his permission. 

“I don’t know, Tommy,” Tubbo said, his voice trailing off, but he didn’t move to pull his hand away from his friend, instead, letting himself be pulled towards the winged boy. “Just don’t go high, yeah?” he said nervously, his voice rising slightly in pitch. Tommy grinned like the devil, and Tubbo’s stomach dropped. 

Tommy looped his arms around Tubbo, give his wings a few experimental flaps before deciding, yes this would work, and started to raise the two of them into the air with little strain on the hybrid boys part. Tommy had to be careful of the small horns that marked Tubbo, but other than that he felt as though things were going okay.

At least until Tubbo started gripping his arms more tightly, “Okaaaay, we’re pretty high,” he said, his voice high in slight fear. 

Tommy laughed, “Don’t worry, Big T. We won’t go any higher,” he grinned, allowing Tubbo to adjust to the view and take in their surroundings, despite not being too far in the air they could still see for miles around them and Tommy watched as Tubbo took it all in, his face changing from fear to a small look of awe. Tommy smiled, but keeping himself in one place while holding another individual was quite exhausting, so before Tubbo knew it Tommy was landing them back onto the ground, grinning brightly at his friend. “Well? Wanna go higher next time?” 

Tubbo grinned back at him, pushing the other teen’s shoulder slightly happy to be back on the ground, but missing the view. “Maybe,” Tubbo said, not willing to get Tommy’s hopes up or crush them completely. 

Neither Tommy nor Tubbo had realized how much time had passed while they had been sitting there, but the sun had become much lower in the sky and they knew if they wanted to make it back before the mobs started to come out they would have to leave now, back to L’Manberg. 

The pair made it back just as the sun had begun to set, light chatter echoing between them as they entered L’Manberg’s walls only to be greeted by an angry-looking Wilbur, Fundy and Niki a few feet behind him looking worried. 

“Where did you two go? We couldn’t find you anywhere,” Wilbur asked, his voice dripping with suspicion and the glare he had levelled onto Tommy made the younger boy wilt slightly, on the inside only of course, for Tommy would never let his brother see him hurt. So, instead, Tommy frowned and crossed his arms, cutting Tubbo off before the other boy could respond.

“We were out. Why does it matter, Wil? You haven’t been around recently anyways,” Tommy said, staring his older brother down. The three spectators could already hear the argument that was about to occur. Tommy and Wilbur loved each other, everyone knew that, but they fought like cats and dogs. At least this had occurred before suspicion got the best of Wilbur, and insanity corrupted inside of him, back when Tommy would actually stand up for himself. 

“Because I was worried about you, you little gremlin child. You and Tubbo can’t just go off without telling anyone. Dream may have given us our independence, but he could strike against us at any time. You have to be smarter, Tommy. You’re my right hand and my brother, I can’t lose you man,” and that was not the response Tommy had been expecting, it wasn’t the response anyone had been expecting. Fights had been breaking out more and more between the L’Manberg citizens and Tommy could finally see how the lack of control was weighing on Wilbur, the chaos of it all making it hard for his older brother to manage. 

“I just needed to stretch my wings, Wil,” Tommy relented, watching as the serious look on his brother’s face slipped into one of understanding. 

“Just tell someone next time, okay?” Wilbur said, turning when Tommy nodded in response. 

An election would be taking place soon, and following it Tommy’s wings would experience freedom for a time, until finally being fully constrained. The escapes to the feilds with Tubbo would become far and few between, and Tommy would never get to take his friend flying again, for a multitude of reasons. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well how does everyone feel about the stream yesterday. I'm happy Tommy and Tubbo aren't dead, but now I just have to wait for Techno's favour and for Jack and Niki to try and kill Tommy. Which is worrying, ya know.


	4. 4

There was one good thing about being exiled from L’Manberg, or Manberg as it is now called, and that was the fact that Tommy didn’t have to hide his wings in Pogtopia, or the surrounding woods. Dream didn’t really come by and Techno and Wilbur had both grown up seeing Tommy with his wings out. All these factors combined meant that Tommy  _ should  _ have been able to keep his wings out, it  _ should  _ have meant that he would no longer need to keep them concealed, but he hadn’t had them out since they fled, since an arrow had found itself lodged into his right wing. It hadn’t even been that bad of an injury, nothing a healing potion couldn’t heal, but some part of Tommy couldn’t bring himself to have them exposed, so he had excuses. 

“I don't want to take up what limited space we have in here,” he told Techno when he asked, then the teen kept on digging, building up their new little nation. 

“My wings have healed just fine. No, I don’t want you to check on them, I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself,” Tommy had told Tubbo when the other boy had come to visit. 

It all came to a head when Wilbur approached him, the older boy had been off recently, more inclined to yell at Tommy, more prone to suspicion, so Tommy was surprised when Wilbur approached him with a look of patient concern. Tommy was immediately on edge and suspicious. 

“I haven’t seen your wings recently,” Wilbur said, and Tommy could feel the ache on his back at their mention, “When was the last time you did any flying, or even stretched them?” Tommy didn’t answer, the teen had been ambushed when he left his room, hoping to catch Techno for a sparring match or even get Tubbo and just hang out with his best friend. “Tommy.” Wilbur’s voice grew more serious. 

“Like yesterday,” Tommy answers, the lie falling off his lips easily, but not believable enough for his brother. The mere thought of taking his wings out left Tommy on edge, the idea of having them exposed when they were being hunted by a variety of different foes. It’s not that he didn’t trust his family, he did, he trusted them, and Tubbo, more than he trusted anyone else, but he had trusted Eret, and Fundy, and even Schlatt to an extent. 

“It’s not healthy to keep them trapped for so long,” Wilbur said, not even bothering to indulge Tommy’s lie. Tommy’s fist clenched, sensing condescension in his older brother’s voice, not sensing the genuine concern. 

“I know how to take care of myself, Wilbur,” he said, Tommy had grown somewhat used to the discomfort his trapped wings gave him, and he wasn’t about to be told what to do by Wilbur of all people. 

“Did something happen to them? Are they still hurt from that arrow?” Wilbur asked, noting Tommy’s growing aggravation, but continuing with his questioning. 

“They’re fine, fuck off, okay,” Tommy spat, shoving past the other boy, finally spotting Techno who had been crouching on one of the higher floors of Pogtopia, Tommy’s frown deepened and he turned his back on both of his brothers climbing out of the man-made ravine, grabbing his sword and some armour on the way out, a precaution. Tommy glared directly into the sun when he emerged from the ravine, pissed off that it was so bright and pissed off in general. 

It was a disgustingly nice day outside and for some reason the nicer the day the worst Tommy felt, maybe it was because he knew everyone in Manberg (L’Manberg) would be out enjoying the sun and not being worried about having enough food, about being shot in the back, and about the aching feeling of his wings itching to come out. So, Tommy walked, away from Manberg, away from Pogtopia, and away from life, he needed some space and maybe, just maybe, if he got far enough away he would feel safe enough to let his wings out, to fly, to simply exist. So, Tommy traveled, making his way through the forest, over the hills, through the swamps, and so on (grandmother's house was nowhere in sight). The teen’s mind swirled with thoughts as he remembered the election, and remembered the feeling of betrayal when Tubbo had asked where he was, but Tubbo wasn’t a traitor, so Tommy walked. 

It had gotten dark at some point, and exhaustion was seeping into his bones, but he hadn’t been sleeping recently, the constant ache making it impossible and the dreams that would plague his brief moments of sleep were difficult enough. Tommy dreamed of TNT, of betrayal, and of the hacking off of his dark, stormy wings, they were all nightmare though. Not real, for who would do that to a child, the same people who would rip the wings off a butterfly just to watch it suffer, or the hindlegs of a grasshopper so they could see how far it could run. 

Another zombie fell to Tommy’s blade as he continued on, his mind lost in thought as he worked through the motions, Tommy was a soldier after all, he could kill mobs like this in his sleep, which he was basically doing right now. He was miles away from Pogtopia now, and if he was being honest with himself more than a little bit lost, but he still felt uncertain and tired, so he kept walking, until he couldn’t walk anymore. 

A person can only exert themselves for so long, can only survive on so little sleep for so long until your body just shuts down for you, “He didn’t even notice us,” Wilbur commented sadly, the two brothers standing over Tommy, Wilbur with a sad frown and Techno with a blank face. “Or the lack of mobs.” 

“He needs sleep,” Techno finally said, scooping the boy up in his arms easily, although Tommy’s tall form made the whole picture look a little funny as Techno carried him like a baby in his arms. If the boy had been awake Techno would have already received many kicks and punches to the face, but he was out like a light and the two remaining brothers set off to find a cave to sleep in for the night. 

Morning came like it always does, and Tommy awoke confused, not recognizing his surroundings as he scrambled up, his elbow slamming into something soft behind him quickly being followed by a soft grunt. Wide eyes spun around to face a pink hair, half pig man and Tommy’s shoulders immediately slumped. “Techno?” Tommy muttered, his hand running through his hair as he scooted away from his brother and glanced around the cave he woke up in. He caught a glimpse of Wilbur in the distance staring at a sheep that looked almost blue in the distance. “What-”

“You need to take better care of yourself, Toms. You aren’t sleeping and you aren’t taking care of your wings. I know you hate when people tell you what to do, so I’m not, but there isn’t anyone else around for miles,” and with that Techno stood, brushing off the dirt from his lap (a place Tommy had been half asleep on moments earlier) and left to join Wilbur outside. 

The teen sat there for a moment, nerves buzzing through him. “It’s just Wil and Techno,” he muttered to himself, wringing his hands together, trying to convince himself that they wouldn’t hurt him. Sometimes it’s healthy to be wary, but it was with a nervous sigh that Tommy stood, allowing his wings to unfurl as he stepped out into the cloudy day. Wilbur glanced up at him, quickly turning away with a small grin on his face, Tommy chose to ignore that. Techno also looked over at Tommy, “We can spar later,” Techno said.

“Oh yeah, today’s the day I kick your ass,” Tommy grinned, baring his teeth in a grin, stretching his back and wings as he prepared himself to fly, and then threw himself into the sky. It was something that would never grow old, a feeling that Tommy couldn’t imagine himself living without, much like his father, his wings were a big part of him, flying was like breathing to the kid. 

“I don’t think we can trust Tubbo,” Wilbur said, his eyes tracking the boy in the sky, “Tommy trusts him too much.”

“He and Tubbo have been friends for years Wil. You can probably trust him as much as you can trust me,” Techno said, the two twins staring at each other for a moment. 

“I don’t trust you Techno,” Wilbur said, looking away from his brother and moving to where it looked like Tommy was going to land. “Feel any better, Tommy?” he asked, a grin on his face as Tommy’s face dropped from a carefree smile to a frown. 

“Yeah, I was fine before though,” Tommy said, crossing his arms, but keeping his wings out, “Are we okay to stay here a little bit longer?” he asked, trying is best to not let his emotions show too much, but Wilbur could always read him, he could always tell when he was lying or afraid. 

Wilbur smiled and shrugged, ”Sure, it’s not like anyone is going to miss us back at Manberg.” Tommy didn’t flinch at Wilbur’s choice of words, he promises he didn’t, and Tommy’s heart didn’t break as he realized just how true that was. He promises it didn’t. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this, guys. It's going to be a doozy, sorry. 
> 
> I also have started a few more stories for this AU, so I guess lookout for those? 
> 
> I don't really know how to do these chapter notes, but I guess if you guys ever have any requests I can try and do them as well. I just really like writing so.... 
> 
> :)


	5. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter includes kind of graphic descriptions of violence and mutilation.

Tommy had been wanting to do a little exploring, he felt like today was going to be a decent day, it was nice out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He had wondered if he flew up high enough if he could maybe see the outline of some of the towers in the Dream SMP. Dream had visited the day before, so while the green man wouldn’t have any reason to not let him fly, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have to find out.

The ocean was calm as well, the smell of the ocean filling his senses as he flew above it, making sure to stay in the little cove of his exile, diving into the water a few times and pretending he was like the osprey he had seen at the beach in the summer back when he was younger. He was trying to catch a fish when a person stepped out of the nether portal, laughing slightly at his failed attempts. Even if he couldn’t see most of his friends and was exiled he was still free, in the sense that he could still fly, a comfort that gave him a little bit of hope when he was at his worst.

He hadn’t been trying to fly away. He was specifically doing things so it didn’t look like he was, but Dream hadn’t wanted to hear it. “Tommy!” he shouted, and the teen looked down from where he was about to dive into the water again, eyes widening and fear faltering his movements. Right before Tommy could say anything he was being dragged down by a hook sinking into the flesh of his wings, a fishing rod of all things, tearing into feathers and yanking him down with a cry. Air rushing around him as he fell to the ground, head smacking against the sand and causing dots to flash in his vision before he scrambled up.

“Dream, I wasn’t going anywhere. I’m sorry, I just wanted to-” Tommy’s rapid begging was cut by a hand tilting his head up, his breath catching in his throat as he stared up at Dream, his blue eyes faded and wide with fear.

“Don’t makeup excuses, Tommy. You know I don’t want to hurt you, but everything I do for you is for your own good,” Dream whispered, not removing his hand from Tommy’s face as his other one reached for his glowing axe, and Tommy couldn’t breathe.

“No, no, no, no, no,” he stammered, pulling back and stumbling away, his breaths quick and shallow, his wings curling in on themselves and disappearing so he wouldn't trip over them as he struggled to get away. Dream tsked as he watched the teen scramble away, playing the part of an almost disappointed father or brother, all things he was not, but was still replacing. “I’m so sorry, Dream,” Tommy said, looking all the part of a cornered and scared animal.

“Shhh, it’s okay Tommy,” Dreamed cooed, squatting down in front of him, “I should have done this earlier anyways, your wings will heal eventually.” Dream’s hand shot out and grabbed Tommy’s foot, dragging him towards him and his axe. “I just need to make sure you aren’t going to hurt yourself,” Dream said, and before this moment Tommy hadn’t thought about that, he hadn’t even considered that he could end his exile early by letting himself fall from the sky.

“Dream, please,” Tommy cried, shaking from fear as he tried to will his wings away, but couldn’t concentrate enough to do it. Tommy wasn’t as strong as he had been, weeks of not eating properly or getting enough sleep had taken their toll on the teen and there was no way he could escape Dream’s grasp as he was held down. Dream practically sat on him as one hand forced out his right wing, a foot slamming down on his wing’s primaries, meaning that even if he tried to move his wing away his flight feathers would be ripped out, and most likely some of the blood feathers as well.

“Try and stay still. I would hate for this to mess up,” Dream said, speaking over Tommy’s continued begging, it was after some investigation of Tommy’s wings that Dream figured out what he was going to do, first going and cutting the flight feathers and then with great speed, that was almost inhuman, snapped the humerus of Tommy’s right wing.

Tommy screamed at the sudden burst of pain, spots dancing in his vision, and fear humming through his whole body as his now useless wing was released and Dream moved onto the next one, the anticipation of the pain made the action even worse, Tommy must have passed out at some point because when he came too he was on his back, his head heavy from what would be the effects of a potion of slowness, and he could feel Dream doing something to his wings. Apparently breaking them wasn’t enough.

The process of cutting a tendon is a difficult one and hard to manage, it takes skill and precision to go into the bone and make the proper incisions to immobilize the wing, a feat Dream hoped would be permanent. You have to pluck feathers, make a small incision into the skin, find the right part of the tendon and then cut it enough to ruin the victim's ability to fly, then heal it just enough that he doesn’t bleed out, but not enough that the tendon itself heals. Dream had replaced his axe for a small knife and in his concentration didn’t even notice the boy had regained consciousness.

“Dream?” Tommy said, his voice almost gone from apparent screaming, tears gathering in his eyes, “W-why can’t I move them?” There was a slight twitch in his wings that lead to a wave of nauseating pain, and darkness infringing on his vision again.

“Don’t worry, Tommy, it’s all over now,” Dream said, a hand ruffling the kid's hair, before standing and looking down at his masterpiece and the bottles of used healing potions laying on the grass. There was a slight breeze now that blew the bloodied feathers away. Tommy’s back was splattered with blood, his wings bent in odd angles, and the feathers where his wings attached to his back were gone and two long ugly looking scars were there, red and only scarring because of the small, small, amount of potion being used on them. His flight feathers were cut crudely and incorrectly from the axe, and Dream was about 75% sure that the teen would be dealing with an infection in a day, but he knew it would all be okay because he could come in and save the day right as Tommy was on the verge. That’s what friends are for after all.

Tommy laid there, no moving, trying every once in a while to move his wings, but was only met with great amounts of pain that would leave his vision blurry and rip a cry from his throat. Everything was sore and his back and wings ached, the pain only manageable from the drugs in his system.

“Tommy?” A voice called from the distance and it was with great effort that the teen looked up to see the ghostly version of his brother approach, concern on his all too pale face, a bloodied line across his shirt that made Tommy uncomfortable on a good day, and now only served to make him want to throw up. “W-what happened?” Ghostbur asked, flitting around his younger brother’s back, confusion clear on his face as his hands hovered above the destroyed wings. If Tommy had seen his brother he would have noticed the change that went over him, and maybe if he had been in a better place he would have heard the difference in Ghostbur’s voice, but he wasn’t, so he didn’t hear Wilbur’s voice going, “I’ll kill him. Oh, Tommy, I’m so, so sorry. I’ll kill that fucking bastard.” Cold hands lightly touched the injuries, as Tommy began to flutter between consciousness and unconsciousness, his very dead brother doing everything he could to make a splint for the wings and cover the injuries.

The veil of life and death had shifted slightly, a spot opening for the presumed presence of a child, but instead, Wilbur shoved his way through the veil and into the body of his ghostself, ready to stab a bitch, a bitch being Dream. Instead, he saw that his brother needed help first, so just as the veil started closing and pulling him back into the emptiness where Schlatt would be drinking, he tried to save and help his brother. He knew Ghostbur was only around to assist Tommy, but he didn’t exactly trust that soft, naive, version of himself to be able to handle this.

“I’m so sorry, Tommy,” Wilbur muttered, his brother’s skin on fire as he placed him inside Tnret, his cool hands brushing against his forehead, Wilbur was well aware of the fact that infection would soon be setting in, so in a last-ditch effort before he was forced back into the afterlife, he shoved a healing potion down Tommy’s throat and hope that it would do more good than harm.

_Tommy found himself thrown back into his childhood while he slept the memory of when he had broken one of his wings when he was a little young because he had flown into a tree by accident._

_"You've got to be careful with your wings, Tommy," Wilbur had said, Techno and Phil nowhere in sight. This was before he and Wilbur would leave for the Dream SMP, and before everything would start going downhill._

_Tommy had sniffled as Wilbur wrapped his wing up so the bones could heal, "Where's Da-Phil?" Tommy asked, he had long since stopped calling Phil Dad. Techno and Wilbur didn't, so Tommy stopped, he wanted to be like his brothers after all._

_"I wish I knew," Wilbur muttered, a dark look flashing across his face, but he turned away before Tommy could actually ask about it. "There we go, all fixed. Come on let's go inside," he said, dragging Tommy to his feet and heading towards the house. But as they approached the house, the sky grew dark and Tommy found himself standing in front of a blown-up L'Manberg his eyes landing on Phil, his own father, who he hadn't seen in a year stab his brother. He tried to jump towards tried to unfurl his wings to get there, but Techno's voice stopped him. Then he was alone, his wings on the ground in front of him, pain flaring up through his whole body as stared at them on the ground. He looked up to see Dream smiling at him through the darkness._

Tommy woke up alone and in pain, his wings drooping and being unable to hide them away which meant the teen was forced to see the mutilated things from the corner of his eyes throughout the day.

He always laughed when people would come to visit and flinch away from the sight of it, it was a sad and broken sound, but a laugh nonetheless. People assuming he had done it to himself, or maybe not assuming, maybe a green bastard instead whispering lies to them. Ranboo had been the only one who asked.

“Dream was worried I would hurt myself,” Tommy had answered, the words coming out almost jerky and forced, Dream wouldn’t have done it for any other reason. It was Tommy’s fault that his wings had to be clipped, he told Ranboo as much.

“Tommy, this isn’t clipped. Your wings are mutilated, what Dream did to them is not okay. This isn’t okay,” Ranboo had said, and Tommy’s eyes had filled with tears as he looked up at the taller teen.

“Dream said-” Tommy cut himself off, his legs collapsing in on themselves, falling to the ground, a sob tearing through him, shaking his whole body, “I can’t fly, Ranboo. Oh God, I can’t-” A hand-rubbed slow circles on the teen’s back, beneath the wings and the scars, the wings he couldn’t stretch out far enough, the wings that hurt to hold up, and the wings he could only hide for a few hours at a time.

Tommy’s wings would not heal properly and need to be rebroken, the tendons would slowly heal and flight could have been accomplished in about 6 months. Tommy died in 5, buried in an empty coffin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a hummingbird outside my room as I wrote this.


End file.
